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Six Reasons why Donald Trump is Unfit to be President

The 2016 presidential election in November will bring America to a critical junction. This is because the two presumptive nominees – Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton – offer significant contrast in character, personality, and intellect. To further separate both candidates, Trump has no political or public service experience while Clinton has significant experience at this high level of politics.

If there was ever a presidential election where the differences between two candidates were more critical, the November election will be it. The choice of Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton is a choice of not just about character, personality and experience but also who would be more an effective president.

Hillary Clinton is a well-known entity in the world of politics. She has plenty of experience that is tempered by her deliberative, unassuming, and intellectual attributes. These attributes are lacking in Donald Trump’s resume and his temperament is diametrically opposite to that of Hillary Clinton

Mr. Trump’s constant boasting about his wealth and his tendency to create controversy – presumably to attract attention – are the essence of his narcissistic personality. His temperament issues point to several reasons why he is unfit to be president and therefore would not be effective in “making America great again” as he likes to claim. Six of these reasons are:

Being too petulant – Donald Trump is like a child in a man’s body in that he becomes angry and annoyed when he does not get what he wants. He also does not take criticism well. If you criticize him, he resorts to personal attacks and name-calling. We have seen this with Ted Cruz – lying Ted, Marco Rubio – little Marco, Hillary Clinton – crooked Hillary, Elizabeth Warren – goofy Elizabeth Warren, and many others. Some of the personal attacks are so trivial that a good political leader with average intellect would not respond to them the way Trump has.

He is a square peg trying to fit into a round hole – this idiom fits Donald Trump like the unfashionable red cap he wears at his rallies. That with his lack of political experience or public service he could become an effective president is inconceivable. This is like the captain of a cruise boat who has never piloted an airplane applying for a pilot’s license to fly a plane. Mr. Trump cites his business success as relevant to the job of being president. Running a business though is not the same as running the most powerful country in the world – especially when he owns the business and can get away with failures that he would not be able get away with if he were the CEO of a company he does not own.

Histendency to disparage and insult people – no political leader in their right mind would do these things. Yet Mr. Trump has done this to many people and groups including President Obama when he promoted the birther conspiracy. This tendency creates controversy and incites violence as we have seen at many of his campaign rallies. It is also an indication that he lacks empathy and sensitivity for vulnerable people or people that he thinks he is superior to.

His tendency to exaggerate – Donald Trump has a serious problem of exaggerating things. Remember when he said thousands of Muslim cheered in New Jersey on 9/11, that he will build a wall and make Mexico pay for it, that he will make America great again, and he loves those who he has insulted. This tendency shows that he lacks objectivity (a prerequisite for being analytical and deliberate in evaluating situations). A president cannot afford to make exaggerations, as it will seriously undermine his or her ability to understand and resolve global and domestic problems.

His extreme narcissism – you don’t have to be a psychologist to know that Donald Trump’s narcissism flows in his veins. His narcissism manifests itself in his arrogance and drives him to say or do things that reflect on his maturity and judgment. You cannot run the most powerful country if you are emotionally unbalanced. To do so runs the risk of making yourself the center of the issue rather than being objective and deliberate.

Being a lightning rod for controversy – from the beginning of his campaign, Donald Trump has been a lightning rod for controversy. This controversy seems to be something he thrives on, as he is frequently associated with lawsuits, feuds with people, and saying outrageous things. Typical examples of this are his promotion of the birther conspiracy against President Obama, his insults of Mexicans, women, and others. His lack of empathy and sensitivity to the needs of vulnerable people presumably makes him think he can insult people and get away with it. No political leader especially a president can be effective if he or she is a lightning rod for controversy.

Despite Donald Trump’s flaws, he still has plenty of supporters (even among people he has alienated). Even when the Republican Party seems reluctant to embrace him as their nominee, it is obvious that they will still vote for him. This is not a surprise, politics is like religion and people will support their religion or political party regardless of their blatant flaws or wrongdoings.

The election of a president of the most powerful nation in the world is not one that citizens should take for granted or even decide based on political loyalty. Electing a person like Donald Trump who has so many flaws certainly cannot be a sound or reasonable choice. When it comes to the election of a president that choice should transcend political party loyalty, otherwise it will be a disservice to the country.